bakerstreet | SCENES WE'D LIKE TO SEE

"I'll show you around a little and then you can explore everything else on your own, except... the room on the left side of mine belonged to my wife." He tries not to sound awkward about it but can't totally hide that it's a sensitive topic.

"You can take a look at it but please don't remove anything from there."

Then Melbourne shows Spot where the dining room, the formal parlor and the bathroom is (and yes, there's a porcelain tub in there). Lastly he points to the part of the house where the servants live and explains they deserve their privacy, just like everybody else, so Spot shouldn't bother them just to make idle conversation.

"I'll take you to see the kitchen after I've had a talk with everyone. That, too, is a place I don't go to unless I have a good reason. My principal is that as long as everything runs smoothly, I let the servants get on with their work in the way they want."

Spot nods seriously, but honestly he has no intention of snooping - it would feel strange to encroach on her space, and she's far removed enough from him that he doesn't even really have any curiosity about her, he's happy to leave the space be.

The rest of the tour goes well enough - he can't hide the delight in his eyes when he looks at the tub and realises he could have a bath whenever he likes, every day if he wants - and he nods with understanding about bothering the servants. It feels weird, the idea that there are people living here that he shouldn't really be spending time with, but that doesn't mean he can't be polite to them, try and make their jobs a little easier where he could, and stay out of their way when he couldn't. He knows he has to live up to his father's expectations, now, he has to become the person who lives this kind of life, and that includes making friends with servants - besides, he tells himself, they'd probably feel like they had to indulge him if he tried, and he doesn't want anybody to feel like they have to tolerate him or be his friend. Better to just let them get on with their lives while he gets on with his, as strange as it is. He hopes he'll get used to it, maybe even get to know them more naturally as their paths cross, but he'll take the cue from them about proper behaviour, it's probably safer that way.

"That makes sense." he agrees - he's used to that, at least, the old man who ran the lodging house didn't let any of the boys in the kitchens there either.

"We should have a bite to eat, don't you think? At least I could do with tea and sandwiches. Coffee for you. Why don't you go and wait for me in the study while I ask the cook to bring our food there."

When Melbourne joins Spot a few minutes later, he smiles and tries to give encouragement for the new situation.

"I imagine this all looks very grand to you, especially after the cramped spaces at the ship but your life isn't going to be as formal as you might fear. Not here at home. There's just you and I, so you don't need to look your best every day. You can even wear your old clothes around the house. God knows I've developed some lazy habits for being on my own for so long. Now we'll create new ones, together."

Spot nods, going to make himself comfortable in the study while he waits. It's hard not to immediately start inspecting the bookshelves, but he resists for now.

When his father returns and gives him that reassurance, he huffs in faint amusement, looking down while he tries to formulate a response. Idly, his fingers play with the chain of his watch - a habit he's picked up since his birthday.

"I'm getting used to the clothes," he admits - as comfortable as his old clothes were, he's kind of enjoying how he looks, and honestly he doesn't want to go backwards, it only makes it harder to go forwards. He's not ruling it out, though, the clothes are still sitting in his trunk, just in case.

"It's a lot, but I'll get used to it. It's... good that I know I don't have to.. try so hard, here. If this is going to be home it needs to be, well, home..." he doesn't know if that makes sense, but what he's trying to say is he appreciates his father's words, he appreciates knowing that he can relax behind these walls, that he isn't being watched and judged all the time.

"This is your home, a real home where you have a say in how things are done," Melbourne confirms.

"I'm hoping that by the time we've eaten, our trunks have been brought from the ship. You can unpack and get a better feel of your new room and afterwards I could show you where the library is." His eyebrows go up as he grins and gestures around them.

"The city library, not my humble collection. It's but a mile from here and I have the feeling you'll visit there often. A post office is nearby, too. In the meantime..." He has noticed something else that Spot could get use out of: a globe in the corner of the room. He fetches that and places it in front of the boy.

"Have you ever looked at maps before?"

[ooc: Ah, I can definitely see Spot fiddling with the chain. Something to occupy his hands now that he's not carrying the cane and the slingshot with him, and for wanting to make sure, subconsciously maybe, that the watch is still there.]

The mention of a library definitely piques his interest - and yes, his father is right, he probably will spend a lot of time there if he can get away with it. He doesn't know if he'll want to spend as much time reading when they're not stuck on a boat with a limited number of options, but being in an unfamiliar city and getting used to a new life wasn't dissimilar, and books he knew, books he understood - they didn't care about whether he did things right or wrong, they didn't judge, they were just waiting for him to discover new worlds and new ideas.

The post office, too, would be useful for sending letters to Race - perhaps he could get a postcard today and send it, he doesn't want to waste much time before letting the other boy know he's safely in his new home.

He sits up a little to get a better look at the globe, he's never seen one so fancy (hell, he's barely seen one at all, not up close), and he leans in to get a better look.

"Seen 'em, ain't spent much time looking at 'em." He admits. Even then, it was more likely maps of New York than of anywhere else in the world.

_{[yea! I can see him checking the time a lot too, not because he needs to know the time but just to look at it]}

"Well then," he turns the globe around first to point out where they left two weeks ago. It's not the most detailed globe but it'll give Spot the basics of geography. Country boundaries and big cities are marked alongside with rivers, oceans and mountains.

"Here is New York and this whole area is the United States. Brooklyn is not mentioned but of course you know it's east of Manhattan. Our ship went along the coastline like this and... here we are, in London. In Great Britain. England is just the lower half of it. And this is Ireland," he finishes.

"I'll let you take it into your room if you want to or just keep it here. I have encyclopedias over there in case you want to learn about the places you see named on this globe. Not that you need to learn on your own. The tutor, once we hire him, will teach you geography anyway.

Idly, Spot wonders how much trouble he'd get into for labelling Brooklyn on the globe. It would be difficult to do, which is probably the only reason he's not thinking more seriously about it. It's strange how little space there seems to be between here and there when compared to the size of the whole planet, strange but oddly comforting. Two weeks.

"It can stay here," he decides, though he knows he'll probably spend a lot of time looking at it, but it makes more sense to keep it near the books he can look in - and besides, that gives him an excuse to spend more time in here while his father is working.

"Have you travelled a lot?" he asks with interest, eyes scanning over the other shapes on the globe, a hundred other countries he's never even thought about.

[ooc: Spot can draw a huge arrow on the globe and write 'Brooklyn' across the Atlantic Ocean. That is, if he wants to miss his first allowance. And the next.]

"In Britain only, I must confess. My first time overseas was this trip to go looking for you. I suppose I wasn't adventurous enough before but I always felt my duty was here, in my own country. As a Prime Minister I could have gone to France at least," he taps the country south of England on the globe, "but I didn't venture even that far. Perhaps with you will, who knows."

He is looking forward to showing Spot his favourite sights in Britain but not ruling out the idea of a tour in mainland Europe, either, for his son's sake. Most of all he just wants Spot to experience all that he can offer.

"My advice would be... not to be like me. Take every opportunity presented at you to travel but if there isn't any, educate yourself about foreign countries. I dare say I know quite a lot but there are still many places in the world I am pitifully ignorant about."

_{[Hahah could you imagine XD luckily Spot is not that kind of hellion. He's still a hellion, just not like that haha]}

The idea of travelling is a tempting one, there's so much open to him now that wasn't an option before and travel is definitely one of those things. He doesn't ask, just now, if they can travel further afield, it feels ungrateful to have arrived in London and already be asking to go elsewhere, but he definitely files it away as a thing he'd like to do. He's hopeful, too, with his father's encouragement, that there might be opportunity for travel.

"That won't be hard," he says after a moment, glancing around at the books surrounding them, thinking about the library not that far away, the tutor he's going to get - a million and one chances to learn. "Just... time consuming." he adds with a faint huff of laughter - there's so much to learn, it's a tiny bit daunting, but while it's going to take time to catch up with what a boy his age ought to know in his position, he's determined to do it.

[ooc: Now I'm thinking how after Melbourne's death, Spot takes the globe with him to Brooklyn as it symbolises all the things he learned about the world from his father.]

"I know," he starts, straightening up as their food arrives and doesn't continue before the servant has left them alone again. A teacup in his hands, Melbourne sits down to explain.

"What I wish to say is, don't get too frustrated if you aren't making progress as fast as you would like. There is no pressure on my part-- I mean, of course I have some expectations but no more than what I know you can accomplish. You are sixteen now. It's not too late to learn plenty, don't worry. It doesn't require for you to have your nose in the book all day."

He takes a sip of the tea and ponders about how to keep Spot active. He's used to walking a lot and while that was out of necessity, exercising is never bad, and it might be a way for Spot to make friends with other boys.

"Would you like to do sports of some kind?"

_{[Oh my god my heart]}

Spot nods as he sips his drink - he's casual about it, but he's definitely relieved to hear that Melbourne's expectations aren't too high. He's pretty good at things once he sets his mind to them, so he doesn't think it's going to be hard to catch up, however daunting the sheer volume of it might be, but it's good to know he's not going to have to be pushing himself even harder just to make his father happy. He'd like to think he'll just do what he can and it will be enough - and it would be, he thinks, for his father - but he knows himself, he knows he won't be satisfied with that for his own sake, he's just glad the pressure won't be coming from two places.

"What kind? I mean, what are my options?" he asks, obviously intrigued - the newsies hadn't had a whole lot of time for sports, they'd snuck into the stadium to watch the baseball a few times when they could, and sometimes they'd play with a ball or something in the streets if they could get it, but mostly the exercise they got was all the walking they did, and swimming in the east river.

"Well, tennis is the first one that comes to mind. It's very popular which is why you ought to learn to play that anyway, regardless of whether you like it a lot or just a little. It's almost guaranteed you will be asked to play with someone. Then, riding of course. Not only because it's expected from a man in your position but you need to know how if you're going to get around anywhere in the countryside. That's another must know the basics of sport."

Melbourne could teach those basics himself, though hopefully Spot's cousins will also be willing to volunteer to spar with him.

"Most gentlemen's sports are individual ones and I believe easier for you to start with while finding your feet in your life. Tennis, as I mentioned, and fencing. Swimming, too. London has a couple of indoor swimming pools so you wouldn't be restricted to summer months. Then later you might consider a team sport, in order to meet more people and make friends. Cricket or polo, for example, though the latter one strictly only if you really care about learning to ride. Rowing could be an option. Um... these are just a few ideas."

They range from sports he's vaguely aware of but has never played to things he's never even heard of, so it's hard to establish what he might actually enjoy. Maybe he just needs to learn a little more about them all before he can really make a decision.

He does know some things, though, so he doesn't feel like a complete idiot.

"I don't mind learning to play tennis, and I'm looking forward to learning to ride," he admits - he doesn't know if it'll have the same thrill as the steeplechase, or something else entirely, but he's interested enough in finding out that he's quite happy to learn.

"I've never swam indoors... we used to just swim in the river when it was warm." he explains, he wonders what an indoor pool would be like, if it would be different to swim in water without a current. It's another thing he wouldn't mind finding out about, though. "The other stuff... I guess I'll learn more about it all first, figure out what sounds good."

"I have never swam indoors, either, so I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about it but your cousin Charles could. His school took the whole class to a pool several times. You won't get that casual atmosphere you'd have when swimming in the ocean or river but indoor pools have other upsides, such as them always being clean and warm."

He is aware that Spot isn't familiar with everything he brings up but it would be too much to try to explain all in one go. Whatever topic the boy touches on, even briefly, is a start, something they can build upon.

"The idea is not to burden you with a load of new activities but to give you something to balance the studying. One or two things is enough for now. I also suggest we go and watch games and competitions together. You'll get a better understanding of different sports that way so when they come up in a conversation, you aren't clueless."

Your cousin Charles - It's weird, he knows he has more family now, an aunt and cousins, but when he hasn't met them they're still sort of an abstract concept, so every time they get mentioned he's reminded and he gets happy all over again. He's nervous about meeting them, but kind of excited too.

He thinks about things for a moment and then nods.

"Well if tennis and riding are important, we can start there, and then once I've learned more about the others I can decide if it's something I want to do then?" he suggests - he definitely appreciates not being overwhelmed with options, he's already got so much to get used to that it's a struggle not to be daunted by it.

[ooc: It's nearly the anniversary of our thread as I tagged you on June 22nd last year. Pretty amazing and I'm really happy to have discovered Newsies; the movie, the musical and the history of the real newsboys <3.]

"It sounds like a good plan," he nods back and falls silent, enjoying the cup of hot tea while sinking into his own favourite chair. It is hard to believe he has been gone for two whole months: first the lonely and nerve-wrecking journey across the sea, then a month in New York getting to know his son (with all the turmoil it brought) and then the trip back home. Now finally life is as it should be.

A smile creeps up on his face. He's unable to hide it so it becomes necessary to explain, lest Spot thinks he's up to something new again.

"You must excuse me if I seem overly excited at times. For so many years I thought I could never... teach my son all the things I can now teach you. I'm looking forward to it very much."

_{[Ah I'm so sorry this took me so long we past the anniversary! Haha happy one year!]}

For a moment Spot is concerned about that smile, wondering what new plans his father is dreaming up when he already seems to have so much on his plate - but then the explanation comes and the concern gives way to something soft and warm and, yes, a little awkward because he still doesn't really know how to deal with, or express, feelings like this - but he's trying, and he thinks he's getting better.

"I... guess I kinda know... what you mean..." he says slowly, a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth "I never thought I'd have a father who would... teach me things or... or do all the things a father's supposed to do." he shrugs a little awkwardly, looking down.

"I'm glad I get a chance to find out what that's like."

SCENES WE'D LIKE TO SEE

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

So sorry for the delay <3

no subject

no subject